From the front page of the Alanta Journal-Constitution:

In a move autism family advocates call unprecedented, federal health officials have concluded that childhood vaccines contributed to symptoms of the disorder in a 9-year-old Georgia girl.

While government officials continue to maintain that vaccines don’t cause autism, advocates say the recent settlement of the girl’s injury case in a secretive federal vaccine court shows otherwise.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has concluded the family of Hannah Poling of Athens is entitled to compensation from a federal vaccine injury fund, according to the text of a court document in the case. The amount of the family’s award is still being determined.

The language in the document does not establish a clear-cut vaccine-autism link. But it does say the government concluded that vaccines aggravated a rare underlying metabolic condition that resulted in a brain disorder “with features of autism spectrum disorder.”

… According to the leaked document posted online, the government’s Division of Vaccine Injury Compensation concluded that five shots Hannah received in July 2000, when she was 19 months old, “significantly aggravated an underlying mitochondrial disorder” and resulted in a brain disorder “with features of autism spectrum disorder.”

Documents in the case are sealed from pubic view, fueling confusion over the implications of the settlement.

Related stories in the AJC:

Autism Q&A

Jenny McCarthy Calls for Rally at CDC

Actress-turned-autism-activist Jenny McCarthy appears in a newly posted YouTube video calling for the “largest rally ever” in front of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in late June.

“I will be there leading us on,” said McCarthy, punching her fists in the air for emphasis. “This is the time. This is the moment. This is the day.”

The actress, who has a son with autism, never actually uses the word “autism” in the video.

Earlier post about presidential candidate John McCain drawing a connection between autism and vaccines.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 6th, 2008 at 9:25 am and is filed under advocacy, autism, law, NOT2BEMISSED, vaccine. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.